Receive the latest local updates in your inbox

Protests break out at two Southern California Universities after the Cal State University Trustees votes to raise fees. Beverly White reports. (Published Thursday, Nov 17, 2011)

Updated at 8:56 AM PDT on Thursday, Nov 17, 2011

The California State University Board voted Wednesday to approve a 9-percent, system-wide tuition hike for all 23 CSU campuses, sparking a violent confrontation in Long Beach that injured three officers, according to a CSU spokesman.

The 9-6 vote escalated tensions between protesters and CSU police, who according to system officials, were attempting to get protesters to peacefully leave the meeting when the board recessed.

"Back off. Back off. You guys did that. Back off. You pulled the door. Back off," shouts an officer to the crowd, as blood starts to form around a cut on his temple.

During the exchange, three officers were injured and four protesters, including the person who broke the door, were arrested, according to Fallis.

The new fee policy, which received approval Wednesday from both the board and the CSU finance committee, would increase tuition from $5,472 a year to $5,970 a year for full-time undergraduate students starting next fall.

Joining the thousands of students protesting the increased fees was Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who at Wednesday's meeting, urged the board to reconsider balancing its budget on the backs of students

Newsom stressed the importance of protecting access to higher education, especially in light of current economic conditions.

“In today’s economy, the timing of the proposed 9 percent tuition increase could not come at a more difficult time,” said Newsom, who called cuts to higher education a “catastrophic trend.”

“Families are struggling to make ends meet and many who had hoped to afford higher education are rethinking whether college is a realistic option,” Newsom said.

California state universities are funded through tuition and state funding, the latter of which has been cut $650 million just this school year, said Fallis.

“Our funding from the state has dropped down to $2.14 billion,” said Fallis. “That’s less funding than we had a decade ago, yet we’re serving 70,000 additional students.”

Per-student funding has gone down about $2,000 in the last decade, Fallis said.